Learning an instrument can take many forms. You can go get some books and go through the curriculum propose through the content. You can watch videos and be amazed at the mastery displayed. You can subscribe to a service and patiently wait a week for your next step. You can do all of that, and all these methods have some value.
Or you can take lessons with me.
Why me and what do I do that’s so special?
Here’s the skinny. I teach piano or drums the way I learnt English: by doing it, by having fun. I have a careful crafted teaching method that emphasizes fun: fun in playing, fun in trying, fun in discovering, fun in rubbing whatever knowledge you got in a real playing situation. I learnt English by talking with people. I started with the very basics, the “Hello”, “How are you?” that Americans use every day. Because I lived in Chicago I had a million opportunities to converse with my neighbor, my girlfriend, my friends, my students, etc. I never studied the irregular verbs or the proper grammar. Yet, here I am writing in English and able to express what I want to say. Sometimes even with a devastating sense of humor.
I teach music the same way. Boredom is the enemy of learning. Not only would most people quit if they were bored doing something, but they would be disgusted.
I’ll give you an example. I teach, just like every piano teacher, how to read music and understand rhythm. I see you raise an eyebrow because you’re thinking: “Well, of course you teach those concepts, what’s so exceptional about that?” Since you’re asking that question, here is the exceptional part: my students love rhythm and reading. They have no problem planting their teeth into a thick steak of 16th notes or a crunchy salad of alliterations. More than that, they enjoy it. The sentence “Sol, can we do reading today?” is a very common one in my studio. Not that I do not ask my piano students to read, as a matter of fact, they read a lot during the lesson already (the technical exercises, the pieces they prepare, etc), but they want to do MORE reading. Same for rhythm. Yes, I can assure you, rhythm is a lot of fun.
I have revamped my lessons at the beginning of COVID-19, completely redone all my progressions, my courses, my approach. It now goes much smoother than before, I am much more relaxed during the lessons and so are my pupils. Learning is not difficult. What stops us is thinking about all the obstacles attached to learning. But the job of a teacher, among others, is to make sure you don’t end up facing a wall when you’re getting something new. Instead, you should get a step, like a step on staircase. And, steps after steps, you get to your goals while having fun. I strive to do just that.